The field of the invention is information presentation systems and more specifically presentation systems that enable interactive information presentation to an audience within a conference room or the like where information is presented in a manner akin to conventional paper type flip charts that can be dynamically edited in a collaborative fashion.
Various tools have been developed to help people in a conference type environment to share information and exchange ideas efficiently. For instance, widely used tools include chalk boards, writable/erasable whiteboards (e.g., dry-erase or dry wipe) and the like where information can be presented in a large format to an audience within a conference room, a class room, etc. One advantage of whiteboards and chalkboards is that information presented thereon can be modified or augmented so that information can be dynamically altered to reflect current thoughts thereby facilitating collaborative activity. Hereinafter, while boards and other tools are useable for various types of activities including single person presentations as well as collaborative activities, in the interest of simplifying this explanation, unless indicated otherwise, all types of information sharing activities will be referred to generally as “collaborative activities”.
While erasable boards are suitable for certain collaborative activities, erasable boards typically have several shortcomings. To this end, when a clear presentation surface is required and therefore information currently thereon is erased, in most cases there is no way to continue to present the erased information in front of the audience so that the erased information as well as the newly applied information can be simultaneously viewed. In addition, in most cases, there is no way to archive erased information for subsequent presentation when using an erasable board. Moreover, in many cases (e.g., chalkboards or large whiteboards) erasable boards are either not portable (e.g., are mounted to a wall) or are difficult to transport (e.g., may be mounted on wheels to transport within a facility but may only rarely be transported outside a facility to another facility due to their size.
One other commonly used collaborating tool that overcomes some of the limitations of conventional erasable boards is a paper type flip chart. A typical flip chart resembles a large pad of paper typically mounted to an easel or the like and bound along a top edge. The easel is usually placed at the front of a room in which collaborative activity is to occur. In the case of a flip chart, information is applied to a top sheet of a pad as concepts are developed. When a new concept is to be developed, a top sheet including applied information is either torn along the top edge and is removed or is flipped over the top of the pad (hence the label “flip chart”) to reveal a new clean top sheet on which additional information can be applied.
Where a sheet is torn off a pad after information is applied thereto, in cases where the information to be applied to the new clean top sheet is related to the information on the sheet removed, the removed sheet may be posted on a wall or other generally vertical supporting structure adjacent the flip chart at the front of the room in which the presentation takes place so that information on both the top sheet and the removed sheet can be viewed simultaneously by the audience. Often sheets are posted via tape strips or tacks. In most cases flip charts and associated easels are portable.
Thus, flip charts are advantageously portable and can be used to present a large amount of information by removing and posting sheets within audience view. In addition, when desired, flip chart sheets can be stored in a folder or the like to archive collaborative information and to facilitate subsequent access.
One major drawback to flip charts is that the flipping or paper removing activities as well as the posting activities are both visibly and audibly (i.e., paper flipping and tearing machinations are noisy) distracting to audience members. This is particularly true where an information presenter herself has to flip, tear and/or post sheets between information presentation which results in pauses during collaborating activity.
In addition, where a presenter posts sheets quickly so as to minimize the pause in collaborating activity, often sheet edges are misaligned and/or become crinkled, frayed and/or at least partially rolled at ends resulting in a sloppy presentation that further reduces presentation/collaboration effectiveness.
Moreover, in most cases non-erasable pens are used to apply information to flip chart sheets and therefore, while information can be added to sheets, information typically cannot be removed from sheets once added. Thus, where a flip chart user wants to provide a sheet that includes only part of the information appearing on an existing sheet, the user typically has to create a new sheet including only the desired information and foregoing the other information.
Furthermore, while information can be added to a flip chart sheet while posted (e.g., a sheet removed from the easel and mounted to a wall), often the topology of a wall behind a posted sheet is unsuitable for supporting the sheet during application of information (i.e., the wall surface may be contoured). Thus, when information is to be added to a posted sheet, often the sheet has to be removed from the support wall and remounted to the easel after which the information is added. Thereafter, the sheet has to be removed from the easel and reposted on the wall a second time. This sheet shuffling activity, like the tearing and initial posting activity, is distracting and time consuming.
Yet another problem with typical flip charts is that, while sheets used during collaborative activity can be saved for subsequent reference, typical chart sheets are relatively large (e.g., 3×5 feet) and therefore, either a large storage space is required to store the sheets or the sheets have to be folded to be accommodated in a smaller storage space (e.g., a file drawer). Where sheets are folded for storage, while the sheets remain available for subsequent reference and reposting for subsequent viewing by an audience, the folds often reduce the effectiveness of subsequent presentation.
One more problem with typical flip charts is that collaborative activities often yield information that is considered confidential by persons participating in the activities. Here, when collaborative activities are interrupted for some reason, ideally, posted flip charts are blocked or removed from general view in some way so as to maintain the information thereon confidential from people in the vicinity of the activity space. This is particularly true where collaborative activities are interrupted for hours, days or even weeks. Here, where posted pages are removed from supporting structure and stowed until activities are resumed, ideally, upon resuming a session, the stowed pages are re-posted in the same relative juxtaposition that the pages were in when the session was interrupted to aid session participants in re-orienting trains of thought. Storing pages during an interruption in an organized manner and re-posting the pages in their previous juxtapositions is tedious and time consuming. This is particularly true in cases when sessions yield a large number (e.g., 10 or more) of posted pages where relative juxtaposition may be difficult to remember.
To address some of the problems discussed above, other systems have been developed that combine electronics and a board surface (e.g., a whiteboard, flat panel display screen, etc.) so that information presented on the board surface can be stored for subsequent access and/or presentation. For example, in some cases a digital camera may be provided that, upon command, takes and stores a digital picture of a whiteboard surface. Here, a letter sized copy of the digital picture can be printed for storage or distribution. As another example, in some cases systems are provided that can track pen tip and eraser movement on a whiteboard surface and that can generate representations of the pen and eraser movements and digitally store the representations for subsequent access and/or printing (in this regard see U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/452,178 which is titled “Electronic Whiteboard” and which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety).
As one other example, in some systems pen and eraser type instrument movements adjacent a whiteboard surface are tracked and a projector projects an image indicative of the instrument activity onto the board surface (i.e., a pen movement appears on a projection screen as a line that follows the movement of the pen tip, all projected marks within the swath of an eraser instrument are erased from the projected image, etc.). Here, either in real time or when instructed to, a processor stores the image projected onto the board surface in a database. At a subsequent time the stored image can be retrieved from storage and re-presented via the projector and board surface. Similar systems have been provided using flat panel displays (e.g., plasma, LCD, etc.) and touch sensitive projection screens.
While the electronically enhanced assemblies described above overcome many of the problems associated with erasable boards, unfortunately the assemblies cannot be used in a flip chart fashion to present large amounts of information via several sheets or presentation structure akin thereto. Thus, even where information consecutively presented via an electronically enhanced system is related and simultaneous presentation of the information would result in collaborative synergies, only one screen image can be viewed and augmented at a time.
Some electronically enhanced systems have been developed that allow an information presenter to preview, edit and direct images to be presented to an audience via two or more large screens. For instance, in some cases an information presenter can use a podium mounted display device to view and edit slides or pre-stored images during a presentation and prior to presenting the images to an audience. Here, a processor may provide controls to the presenter via the podium mounted display to, when an image is selected to be presented to the audience, identify which of two or more large screens to send the selected image to. For instance, where first and second large screens are located behind a podium and to the left and right of the podium, respectively, the controls may enable the presenter to select one of the left or right large screens on which to present the image.
Despite advantages of image previewing/directing systems like the one described above, even these systems have shortcomings. For instance, while the podium mounted display is useable to edit an image prior to presentation to an audience, the podium mounted display is specifically juxtaposed so that the audience cannot see the information presented thereon. Thus, the podium mounted display is not useable in a collaborative fashion as is the top sheet of a flip chart.
In addition, in known systems like the one described above, presented images have to be digitally stored separately for archive purposes. Thus, for instance, where a system includes ten large screens, separate images are displayed on each of the large screens and a group using the system decides to break for the day intending to resume collaborative activity the next day, each of the ten images has to be stored separately prior to turning off the system and has to be retrieved separately the following day.
Moreover, the next day when the ten separately stored images are retrieved to resume the activities, in order to pick up where the previous days session ended, the retrieved images have to be presented via the exact same large screen units used to present the images the previous day to avoid confusion. This process of retrieving and presenting images in the proper spatial order would be tedious at best.
In at least some cases other drawbacks associated with systems that include two or more large screens and a podium based preview display are the size of the overall system and associated complexity of setting up the system. Thus, for instance, where each of the large screens includes a screen and a projector, movement of the systems between different venues may be cumbersome or, in some cases, entirely impractical.